BURKINA FASO: Al'Qaeda claims attack on army hqtrs, French embassy

In a statement to APS news agency, spokesman for Algerian Foreign Ministry, Abdelaziz Benali Cherif, stressed that his country "firmly and unequivocally condemns terrorism under all its forms".

The Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has expressed the AU's solidarity with the people and government of Burkina Faso in these hard circumstances, according to a statement from the pan-African bloc.

He further added that the attack might has been planned to target a meeting of the G5 Sahel which was underway in the military headquarters.

Five countries - Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mali and Mauritania - backed by France, launched a new taskforce past year to tackle Islamist militants in the region, to which global donors have committed half a billion dollars.

Five emergency centres were set up in hospitals, a military barracks and at a stadium in Ouagadougou to treat the casualties, said Col. Amade Kafando, director general of Burkina Faso's army health unit.

Burkinabe security forces are frequently targeted by militants near the country's borders with Mali and Niger, where they participate in a regional task force aimed at countering rising jihadi violence.

Mr Sawadogo said a meeting of the G5 Sahel regional counter-terrorism force was supposed to have been held at the headquarters but had been moved to another room.

Speaking to state TV channel RTB, Information Minister Remis Fulgance Dandjinou said the attack had "strong overtones of terrorism". Two members of Burkina Faso's paramilitary gendarmes were killed defending the embassy.

Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General Yousef al-Othaimeen described the attacks as a "criminal act", appealing to the local authorities to make every effort to arrest the perpetrators and those supporting them, and bring them to justice. An explosion occurred at about the same time near the military headquarters and the French cultural center about a kilometer from the embassy attack, witnesses said.

He stressed the need to boost worldwide partnership to support efforts by Burkina Faso and the Sahel countries to root out terrorism.

The French Embassy came under attack around 10:15 a.m. Friday.

No one has claimed responsibility for Friday's attacks in the capital Ouagadougou, which follow two other major assaults in the past two years.

The military used the helicopter to suppress the attackers.

Led by the Malian jihadist Iyad Ag Ghaly, the group is allied to Al-Qaida and has claimed responsibility for previous attacks in the troubled Sahel region.

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